The Sothillisian War
The Sothillisian War was a war that lasted over 4 years between the nation of Amn and the Sothillisian Empire with the goal of recovering the lost Armory of Nedeheim. The ogre mage Sothillis and his mate Cyrvisnea began this war by leading their army of kobolds, goblins, hill giants and ogres, supported by Cyricists in an attack on Fort Ishla and Esmereltan. Both attacks were resounding victories, due in no small part to their superior numbers and the defenders distracted by the secession of Riativin to Tethyr. The ogre magi were dismayed to not find the armory in Esmereltan, but found documents hinting that it had been moved to the city of Murann. The First Host Cyrvisnea led part of the goblin and kobold sections of their army, aided by their Cyricist allies to Imnescar and sacked it. Sothillis meanwhile, left a hill giant garrison in Esmereltan and went through Trademeet towards Murann, laying siege to it. The Pirates of the Nelanther Isles blockaded Murann's port and the siege continued until the fall of winter. The monstrous army dug in and fortified its rear flank, capturing several Amnian watchtowers in the northern foothills of the Small Teeth and building several more west of Trademeet. When spring came, Sothillis' forces conquered Murann and looted the trapped ships filled with Maztican gold. However, the ogre magi found absolutely no trace of the armory they had been searching for. The monstrous force ceased their advance as its leaders pondered on what to do next. Meanwhile, the Council of Six bickered over how much to spend on the army that would fight the Empire and which city they would attempt to retake first. It wasn't until the church of Selûne pledged their considerable resources to the war effort in order to reclaim their temple in Murann in the spring of 1372 DR that the army really mobilized. The Selûnite crusaders retook Imnescar and set up a new abbey in Hydcont Hall while the Amnian soldiers half-heartedly garrisoned Trademeet and besieged Esmereltan. Dragon rage and the Crusade of the Moon In the Year of Rogue Dragons, Iryklathagra likely maddened by the Rage of Dragons, attacked the Twin Towers of the Eternal Eclipse, the Cyricist base of operations. She collapsed the eastern tower before retreating, injured to her lair. The Selûnites took advantage of this event and reopened the pass through the Small Teeth, cutting off the supplies to the Sothillisian Esmereltan garrison, making them easy pickings even for the weak-willed Amnian army. The city was recaptured and in turn freed up men to create a new front line along the Trade Way. By 1374 DR the hostilities break out in full force. The Sothillisian Empire was restricted to the western Small Teeth, Murann and the plains between the area west of the Trade Way and the Wealdath, they looked to be a much easier target, but were very well dug in so would be hard to dislodge. Also, the elves of the Wealdath refused to lend their help to the amnian forces until they accepted Tethyr's sovereignty over Riativin and Trailstone. Sothillis and Cyrvisnea continued to fortify their positions in order to make a full-scale assault too costly for Amn, offering amnesty from attacks to wealthy amnian merchant families in return for regular tithes of weapons and gold but refused to move from Murann until the armory they have been looking for is found. The Siege of Eternal Eclipse On Ches 15 of 1374 the Selûnites mounted an attack on the western tower of the Eternal Eclipse but after inflicting minor structural damage they were driven off. 4 days later a prior of Hydcont abbey is assassinated, probably in retaliation. House Tanislove refuses to bribe both the Amnian commanders and the Sothillisians and its caravans are attacked by Sothillisian raiders, forcing them to redirect their caravans through Brost which costs them time and money. When a Tanislove caravan dares the Trade Way a tenday later on Mirtul 3, it is immediately attacked by a band of ogres. The caravan is a decoy though and warriors of the Flaming Fist in the employ of Tanislove defeat the ogres in the Battle of Broken Wheels. 9 days later, a farm belonging to House Gheldieg, allied to Tanislove through marriage, located near Kalathtyr by the southern banks of River Specie is attacked, breaking a de facto truce that has existed along the northern flanks of the Small Teeth. The next day an elite company of adventurers (supposedly led by the half-ogre bastard son of Sothillis and based in the western tower of the Eternal Eclipse) free a dozen ogres captured after the retaking of Esmereltan underneath a temple to Loviatar called the Black Spires of the Maiden. One of the ogres reports that the Armory of Nedeheim is definitely under Murann, but in the Shanatar ruins of Xothaerin deep in the Underdark. The Army of Three Stars conquers the Western Tower of the Eternal Eclipse after a 50 day siege and learns, though clerical interrogations of the dead about the location of the Armory. This information quickly reaches the ears of several adventuring parties and Sothillis promises to trump any other offer given to those who seek it. Halo of Darkness Years before the Cosmic River events, in 1373 DR, Myrkul made his move on Amn to rejoin the mortal world. Taking advantage of Cyric's plan to lead a monstrous army against the human realm from it's south, the dead god led his vampire champion Nightmare (guising as a commander of the White Phoenix knightly order with political power) into seizing the mainland of Amn by charisma and not brute force, and raising his followers once more to allow him a step back into the Fearunian pantheon. Along with that he raised a weaker though still formidable aspect of his older champion, an Abyssal shadow dragon who had long lost its power of will; a beast called Darkness, to strengthen his ties to Faerun. While at that, the chaos of the Abyss spat out random portal ways onto Amn and demons ran into the land and ravaged. This was a sign of the upcoming Spellplague. Amn had two fronts now--the demons and the monster army to the south. War raged on the south lands and in the midst of that, one of the six rulers (Council of Six) was held captive by the Ogre Mages. Unfortunately for Myrkul, his plans were thwarted by two individuals. Agatha Rauvin, a follower of Cyric and focused on religious history, knew about Myrkul's demise and legacy and furthermore recognized the signs. She knew Darkness was stirring. Guising as a Selunite cleric, she stole the Black Tooth (a needed item for the summoning ritual) and ran. Years later she formed the Children of Darkness, a cult dedicated to Cyric. In the meantime, a young human bard named Willem Targail was after the "human" aspect of Vengrat Kalimgor (aka Nightmare), the White Phoenix commander, who in his effort to keep his cover, married a human girl. That girl was Willem's love. Willem through his war journeys was always after Vengrat and managed to bring down his image to the eyes of the people. Myrkul decided to move when Willem was slain by manticores on the Small Teeth. Myrkul abandoned Vengrat to his former vampire status as Nightmare and bid Willem his new death knight champion. Willem's body came back but never did his former self. The only focus he had was Myrkul and the slaying of Nightmare. Willem retreated to the mountains and inhabited an abandoned dwarven hall, on the tallest of the Cloud Peaks where no man can reach, among the winter blizzards, scheming on how to track down and destroy the vampire. Eventually, the war ended, the Sothillisian Empire of the Ogre Mages overran the Small Teeth, Imnescar was battered and burnt, the mainland of Amn was back to normal and steeled itself from outside threat, so that the coin went on its course, Nightmare and Targail retreated each to him own, the survivors of the White Phoenix scattered, Agatha (in truth Targail's outcast cursed sister) empowered Cyric while Targail revitalized Myrkul, Asmodeus had risen to cover Amn and the demonic vortex lessened and died out. A new age begun; marked with the coming of the Spellplague.